The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Dianthus, or garden pink, that is grown for use as an ornamental landscape and container plant. It is known botanically as Dianthus×hybrida and will be referred to hereinafter by the cultivar name ‘Devon Yolande’.
‘Devon Yolande’ is the product of a breeding program started by the inventor in 1980 in a cultivated area of Houndspool, Dawlish, Devon, United Kingdom. The primary focus of the breeding program is to produce new cultivars of garden pinks that exhibit unique characteristics of flower color and form, and which, preferably, are highly and pleasantly fragrant. In addition, new varieties are selected for being well-proportioned in respect of ratio of overall height (including flower canopy) to overall width.
Ordinarily, the inventor carries out controlled crosses, with known parents, and selects new varieties for sets of similar characteristics in order to make whole sets of series. ‘Devon Yolande’ is a chance hybrid plant that was selected in 2000 as a single seedling from a large group (which the inventor designated as Family 9722) of open-pollinated seedlings which itself had resulted from open-pollination of a group of unnamed and unreleased plants of Dianthus from the inventor's large collection of Dianthus. Thus, on this occasion, the inventor is unable to identify either the male or the female parent, or to draw comparisons between ‘Devon Yolande’ and either parent.
However, ‘Devon Yolande’ may be compared with the Inventor's variety of Dianthus named ‘Devon PP11’, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 14,919. Whereas each flower stem of ‘Devon PP 11’ generally bears one single flower or bud, the flower stems of ‘Devon Yolande’ typically carry from two to five flowers and buds. The overall effect of a mature plant of ‘Devon Yolande’ is to display a dense mound of flowers and buds.
‘Devon Yolande’ was selected for its distinguishing combination of compact well-proportioned habit, floriferous blooming, perfume fragrance and double bi-colored flowers. The inventor is not aware of any plant in commerce which is close to ‘Devon Yolande’ in bearing such a combination of characteristics.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was first accomplished by the inventor in 2000, in a cultivated area of Houndspool, United Kingdom. The method of asexual propagation used was stem cuttings, Since that time the characteristics of the new cultivar have been determined stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations by vegetative propagation.